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WTF Moments: Riker and Picard take on a chestburster in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Credit: CBS

The first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation had many of the hallmarks of the classic series, but from time to time audiences got a glimpse of genres far outside its stately sci-fi focus; it was those odd moments that suggested that it was influenced by its era. The first season was especially rife with these fun, uncharacteristic instances, many of which were foisted on Commander Riker.

Early on, Riker gets beat up by a feeble old man, and later he and Picard have to blow the head off another dude who has a parasitic Alien -esque chestburster coming out of his body. Among all the episodes of The Next Generation , the episode "Conspiracy" is easily the most bizarre and decidedly un- Star Trek . And yet this strange moment in Trek history is still highly watchable and utterly entertaining.

On some level, the entirety of the episode "Conspiracy" could classify as a 45-minute WTF Moment . The episode actually opens with Riker and the rest of the bridge crew shooting the breeze about how much they like swimming, even though Worf and Data aren't fans (because apparently Klingons and androids don't dig baths). Then, after getting a super-secret transmission, Riker has to rouse Captain Picard from sleep, which is really weird because it indicates that at some point on The Next Generation  Picard took a nap while the rest of crew were pulling their regular shift. (Which, what? Did the Enterprise 's senior officers mess around and pull all-nighters while Picard slept? Considering how cranky Picard is in Season 1, maybe some kind of weird work schedule was the culprit.)

Anyway, Picard being asleep while everyone else is clearly awake and working is almost as weird as the crazy chest-bursting alien at the end of this episode. Almost.

As its title suggests, "Conspiracy" is an episode in which Captain Picard inadvertently discovers that Starfleet Command has been infiltrated by parasitic aliens that live inside humans and make them act like creeps. What the parasites want isn't entirely clear, but once we find out about these body-snatchers no horror cliché is left unturned — or un-eaten.

A helpless old guy suddenly has super-strength, people eat disgusting worms for no reason, a possessed person's neck bulges out like a bullfrog, and the parasitic aliens enter the human host bodies through the mouth. At the end of the episode, Riker and Picard don't outwit the alien parasites or even beam them out into space. Instead, they phaser the head off of the guy who is harboring the host alien, causing his face to explode and a giant chestburster to emerge from his body.

This was the goriest scene in Star Trek up until that point, and in contrast with the rest of The Next Generation , it feels like an R-rated action scene suddenly inserted in the middle of a Pixar movie. Is this scene kind of awesome? 100 percent. Is it tonally out of place with most other episodes of The Next Generation ? Also 100 percent.

"Conspiracy," written by Tracy Tormé and Robert Sabaroff, was the 25th episode of Season 1 of The Next Generation and aired on May 9, 1988. It was also the penultimate episode of that season, and the ending of the episode strongly suggests that the dastardly parasites will return in future episodes. Though this never happened, it's interesting to note that the original intention of then-showrunner Maurice Hurley was to use the parasites as a way of setting up the Borg in Season 2. (At the time, the specifics of who and what the Borg were had yet to be decided.)

In non-canon Star Trek novels, published much later, the parasites' origin was retconned: It turns out they were genetically mutated versions of Trill symbionts that were at war with the Trill. And, in case you've forgotten, the Trill are those friendly little worms that live inside of people, most famously Jadzia and Ezri Dax on Deep Space Nine .

At the time it aired, "Conspiracy" was a big deal because it was the conclusion of a mini-story arc that began earlier in Season 1 with the episode "Coming of Age." (Back then, story arcs on TV shows like Star Trek were very uncommon.) In "Coming of Age," several visiting characters — including Admiral Quinn and Remmick — made a huge deal about a conspiracy in Starfleet, and then in "Conspiracy" both of those guys return and are possessed by the parasites.

Remmick, for those unacquainted, is the guy who gets his head blown off at the end of the episode, and Admiral Quinn is the old guy who suddenly gets superpowers and throws Riker around like a WWE contender.

Credit: CBS (Riker, is that you?)

A note on that scene. It's hilarious and almost better than the ending scene in which Picard and Riker blow up Remmick's head. After old Admiral Quinn grabs Riker's hand, he then throws him across the room. This leads to Riker fighting back with these hilarious flip-kicks in Quinn's face. Then a really great, 1988, made-for-TV brawl really gets going and it's very, very clear that both actors are using stunt doubles.

At this point, you're probably considering a real-life conspiracy theory. I know. I know. Could it be possible that Jonathan Frakes grew a beard for Season 2 of The Next Generation just to disguise a stunt double's face in future episodes? If the alien parasites ever return to Trek canon, we'll be sure to ask them why Riker looks like a totally different person when he gets into fights, and more importantly, why he never used those flip kicks ever again.

• Star Trek: The Next Generation
• WTF Moments

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Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 Ending, Explained

Quick links, how does star trek: the next generation season 1 end, star trek: the next generation season 1's biggest story arcs, what do fans think of star trek: the next generation season 1's ending.

The stumbles of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation have been well-documented. Behind-the-scenes, writers struggled with the concept set down by franchise creator Gene Roddenberry. Some episodes were blatant remakes of Original Series stories, and the show even managed to lose a key cast member. Sometimes it seemed a quadrant away from the classic-packed first season of Star Trek in 1966.

It would be a couple of years before TNG introduced the trademark two-part stories that split seasons — ‘The Best of Both Worlds’ set a high bar at the end of Season 3. But it was clear TNG wouldn’t settle for being defined by its first season. It mustered up a season finale that reasserted its vision for Star Trek while keeping an eye on the future.

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‘The Neutral Zone’ ends the first year of TNG in an unusual way. It doesn’t pick up specific plot strands from the 25 episodes that went before, instead serving up two balanced storylines that dovetail into an intriguing ending. In the pre-title teaser, Worf and Data encounter a 20th-century Earth spacecraft packed with cryogenically suspended humans and retrieve three of them. The discovery recalls ‘Space Seed,’ the ominous 1967 episode of the Original Series that introduced major villain Khan Noonien Singh, but the threat in TNG comes from somewhere else entirely.

Mostly, the three revived humans provide comic relief and pose an inconvenience as the crew of the Enterprise investigates the loss of several Federation outposts along the Romulan Neutral Zone . The fear that the Romulan Star Empire is re-awakening after 53 years of isolation is realized at the end of the episode when the Enterprise encounters a huge Warbird and two combative commanders.

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The twist is that the Romulans aren’t behind the devastating attacks, having lost bases themselves. While there’s a chance for the Empire and Federation to work together, the Enterprise crew and fans are left in no doubt that the Romulans mean business in the galaxy, as one commander promises, “We are back.” As Picard eloquently observes, “I think our lives just became a lot more complicated.”

The episode’s odd structure makes an interesting juxtaposition. The antics of the survivors from the 20th century recall some comedic moments in the Original Series . While the Enterprise crew are oddly dismissive of the time refugees, their presence reinforces that the exploration and knowledge-led 24th century is far removed from the 20th, and even the 23rd. It’s a timely reminder as the parallel plot reintroduces and repositions the new-look Romulan Star Empire as a major threat.

The first season of TNG didn’t have the kinds of story arcs Star Trek fans are used to today. In the 1980s, TNG was syndicated to local stations in the US, meaning episodes could be broadcast in any order. That made arcs impossible and led to soft resets at the end of each story — which is why the death of a major character just two episodes before doesn’t warrant a reference. However, that didn’t stop TNG from seeding plots that would grow over the following years.

TNG ’s first year introduced Data’s long-lost brother Lore and the mysterious Traveler, both of whom would return with consequences. TNG ’s first story, ‘Encounter at Farpoint,’ welcomed fan-favorite Q, the omnipotent alien who would reappear throughout and beyond the series, including the grand finale ‘All Good Things.’ However, the most significant plot arc concluded in the episode before ‘The Neutral Zone.’ Teased in the 19th episode, ‘Coming of Age,’ the penultimate episode ‘Conspiracy’ had Picard and crew uncover and foil a parasitic alien infiltration at the head of Starfleet.

After dealing with monsters close to home and Federation ideals, TNG’s second major arc was all about establishing a next-generation threat to the galaxy. Roddenberry was keen to mark the Star Trek sequel series out from its 1960s forbear. Worf’s presence on board the enterprise was a clear sign that time had moved on, and he spelled it out in the series’ writing rules :

No stories about warfare with Klingons and Romulans and no stories with Vulcans. We are determined not to copy ourselves and believe there must be other interesting aliens in a galaxy filled with billions of stars and planets.

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The solution was the Ferengi, a vicious and distinctive new species mentioned in early episodes before they made their presence felt in the fifth story, ‘The Last Outpost.’ As fans know, the looks and motives of this new threat didn’t work out , and the big-lobed aliens were softly rebooted into the avaricious comic relief that became a popular part of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine .

The Ferengi retreat left a gap, and the Romulans were ready to fill it . Using the time jump to the 24th century, the show recaptured the mystery of their reveal in the Original Series ’ ‘Balance of Terror’ (the Federation and Romulan Empire had fought a war in the 22nd century, but before view screens!).

The updated villains, who receive a great write-up from Troi in the episode, had new forehead ridges to distinguish them from Vulcans , a new Imperial symbol, and a gigantic new warship. The impressive D'deridex-class Romulan Warbird was the last ship created for the franchise by legendary designer Andrew Probert, who was also responsible for the Enterprise-D.

The fan reception to TNG Season 1 is mixed. It holds an Audience Score of 70% on Rotten Tomatoes, well under the 93% earned by TNG’s seventh and final season.

However, the final episode has received generally favorable reviews. One Redditor has justified that it’s a perfect starting point for new viewers of TNG as it expertly defines the traits of most of the main cast and sets out Star Trek ’s optimistic vision

The way the revived humans are handled comes in for most criticism, as observed on Reddit . While the episode mainly uses the 20th-century throwbacks as a chance to set out the Federation charter in the 24th century, it’s at the cost of plausibility. Would the enlightened crew of the Enterprise not be more interested in the time capsule that fell into the ship’s path or wary, considering what happened with Khan less than a hundred years before?

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The handling of the Romulans stands out, as the Empire snarled back with suitable threat and promise. One Redditor even suggested the episode foreshadowed the approach Deep Space Nine would take to the Federation when they provoked the Dominion . Are the franchise's heroes just bringing trouble on themselves with their smug assertion of how great and correct they are?

An interesting side note couldn’t help but affect how fans perceive the episode as soon as a year after its broadcast. The Romulans were a welcome returning threat, but they were a stop-gap. The Ferengi were pushed aside in preparation for a yet-to-be-revealed major new threat whose presence was felt in the devastating attacks on outposts in the Neutral Zone. It would be a while before the culprits were revealed, even if the stellar cartography and timeline don’t quite match up. ‘The Neutral Zone’ is the first sign of TNG’s definitive enemies: The Borg.

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